Question

I want to trade an 04 Honda Civic, but it has a busted bumper. Should I get that fixed before I go to the dealer?

I want to trade an 04 civic, but it has a busted bumper, should I get that fixed before I go to the dealer? My front bumper has a decent crack on the lower passenger side, it's going to cost $650 to fix. I'm afraid if I fix it I won't get my money back on the trade.

How much you will get on your trade will depend more on the rest of your car than the bumper. Use the Honda Civic Used Car Appraiser http://www.edmunds.com/tmv/used/2004/hon... to determine the trade-in value and also the private party sale value. You may be better off selling private party rather than using the car as a trade-in.

Also, when you go to buy, if you use the Civic as a trade-in, make sure these are separate transactions...otherwise the dealer may tell say you are getting a great trade-in price only to increase the price of the new car to make up for it. Read the Ten Steps to Buying a new car http://www.edmunds.com/advice/buying/art... - especially Step 6 on trading in. Extremely valuable.

How much you will get on your trade will depend more on the rest of your car than the bumper. Use the Honda Civic Used Car Appraiser http://www.edmunds.com/tmv/used/2004/hon... to determine the trade-in value and also the private party sale value. You may be better off selling private party rather than using the car as a trade-in.

Also, when you go to buy, if you use the Civic as a trade-in, make sure these are separate transactions...otherwise the dealer may tell say you are getting a great trade-in price only to increase the price of the new car to make up for it. Read the Ten Steps to Buying a new car http://www.edmunds.com/advice/buying/art... - especially Step 6 on trading in. Extremely valuable.